How Sainz was inspired by a video game to secure his pole position in Mexico

When virtual inspires reality. It's no secret: some drivers are fond of racing video games, sometimes even simulators. The most obvious example is that of Max Verstappen, who does not hesitate to compete in virtual races in the middle of weekends F1. Even outside the premier class, some drivers use their video game experience to apply it in racing. Remember in particular 'The Move” by Ross Chastain, in NASCAR in 2022, who had used the wall to overtake several drivers on the last lap at Martinsville!

Right here, Carlos Sainz did not need to use the wall, but the Spaniard used a technique well known to simracers in his last qualifying lap in Mexico, at the end of Q3. Indeed, in the last corner before the long start-finish straight, the driver Ferrari stayed as close as possible to the wall, even if it meant going into the dusty part, in order to minimise the distance covered and scrape off a few more thousandths. While he is not the only one to do this – especially since this technique is already used on other circuits, notably at Suzuka – the Madrilenian managed to make it work… even if his lead would have been sufficient even without it.

THE EXCEPTIONAL CHRONO OF CARLOS SAINZ 🥵

Spaniard takes pole in Mexico, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will start 2nd and 3rd 💪#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/S4FsTHT1Fm

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) October 26, 2024

In a press conference, Carlos Sainz returned to the choice of tightening the trajectory as much as possible in this last bend, admitting to having been inspired by a video game... and by Lando Norris. "It's just something Lando likes to do normally. I think it comes from iRacing or something, recognizes the poleman of the Mexican GP. He likes to go a short distance to the line. I thought I wouldn't lose anything by reducing the distance a little bit. Maybe it bought me a thousandth or two of a second (…) I remember back in the day McLaren, he used to do it often and I was a little perplexed."

Sainz also worked on the preparation of the tires

In addition to this technique, Carlos Sainz especially stressed the importance of tyre preparation during qualifying, which has become a strong point for the Spaniard since the restart in Austin, where he had already finished ahead Charles Leclerc in the thrown lap exercise.

"It's been a big topic at Ferrari in the last few races. We felt like we were always very strong in the race, but we were missing something in qualifying, underlines the Scuderia driver. Yes, this year's car is very good on the tyres, but that means sometimes in qualifying you can't get the most out of the tyres on the first timed lap with the soft tyres. I focused on that a bit during the three-week break. I came into Austin and Mexico with a couple of changes that seem to be paying off."

ALSO READ > Far from the controversies between McLaren and Red Bull, Ferrari takes advantage of "going under the radar" in Mexico